Ganguly declared fit for competitive cricket

Mumbai:The beleaguered Sourav Ganguly, dethroned from captaincy and struggling with injury, today put himself on track for a comeback to the national team with doctors ruling him fit for competitive cricket again.

Ganguly, who had missed the recent Challenger Series for an injury which was diagonised as a 'mild tennis elbow symptom', was given the green-signal by the BCCI appointed sports medicine specialist Dr Anant Joshi and team physio John Gloster after a thorough reassessment of the injury.

Ganguly will now lead East Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against North Zone beginning in Rajkot on October 20, a game which will assume much importance for the stylish left-hander, who has to prove his fitness and form as well.

The country's most successful captain was sacked from the post which was handed back to Rahul Dravid for the next two series.

The Kolkata batsman was also ommitted from the 15-member squad for the first two matches of the seven-match one-day series against Sri Lanka.

"Dr Anant Joshi and Gloster re-evaluated Ganguly's elbow and were of the opinion that he has improved enough to participate in the Duleep Trophy match," BCCI Executive Secretary In-Charge Ratnakar Shetty said in a statement.

"Participation in this match will give a better overall picture as to the status of his recovery," the statement said.Ganguly, whose public spat with coach Greg Chappell made headlines recently, did not make any statement.

His injury was detected just a couple of days before the Challenger Series in Mohali and doctors had advised him 10 days rest, forcing him to sit out of the series.

Ganguly will leave for Rajkot along with East Zone squad tomorrow and his performance in that match would be crucial in his efforts to stage a comeback.

Having been declared fit, he is now eligible for selection for the remaining matches of the Sri Lanka ODI series but will have to score some runs to get the selectors' nod.